Mass Effect 3 isn’t the first game to do it (not by a long shot), but one of the more interesting features it will have is the ability to import your character save file from prior Mass Effect games. This means that, for players who have journeyed through space with Commander Shephard, they will be able to see the consequences and benefits of actions in prior games. To many, this will probably give the feeling of a sense of ownership over the decisions they made (and continue to make).  You can really start to feel like you are part of the universe that is created when you know your actions will have consequences.  You understand the worlds, the characters, the situations.  You get the inside jokes. You know how your crew behaves.

But what about for people who haven’t played any of the prior games? Are you missing out by not playing previous entries in a series? Does playing Halo 3 before Halo make it less of a game? Saints Row: The Third? Gears of War 3?  It made me wonder:

If previous games of a series that you haven’t had an interest in (until the latest version) are available on your current console, what do you play first? 

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For the sake of argument, assume that the story in this series progresses from one game to the next. I’ll be honest; I got Gears of War 3 for Christmas this year, and before I even bothered opening it, I replayed the first, and played (for the first time) the second one.  I didn’t want to feel like I was missing out on something by not knowing the full backstory.  Yeah, most games today will feature primers, or do a good job through exposition to get you caught up on what’s happening, but can that 15 minutes really make up for the hours spent beating a game.  Putting your personal time and energy into the story makes the next iteration mean that much more to you.  So I guess I would say that I’d play the games in order of what’s available, rather than the latest. But then I think about a game like Assassin’s Creed. The series is incredible, and while I feel the first game lays some pretty serious groundwork for the other games in the series, it’s also the worst of the bunch by far. Most would say skip it (or play a small bit and then skip it).

Give us your take – vote above, and drop a comment below.

View previous ASQ: Staying Alive

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation.  Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

We have a unique review today; I’ll be reviewing some PC hardware, something that I haven’t been able to do in years (Mac guy). Today I’m going to be talking about and reviewing the Antec High Current Gamer 520W power supply unit. If you want to see several pictures of it, check out the unboxing post I did early today.

The unit itself is actually a nice unit. For those of you that have messed around with power supplies, you know how simple these are to install but how much of a problem they are if you don’t have one that is strong enough. The install was simple, 4 screws, just like every other PSU out there. The next part of the install was obvious, hooking everything up to it. The HCG-520M has one of the less clutter/cable management types of system where all the cables detach from the PSU itself so you only have to use what you need. This type of system here is really what you want because you only have cables in your case that you need. It takes any excess out which then helps with opening things up for a better air flow inside your PC, and let us not forget just how much better it also looks. You don’t really want a rat nest inside your case. I did have a small problem with the cable management system though, but that’s really because it’s only a 520W unit, it only comes with one set of the PCI-E cables. Most likely you won’t need more than this, especially if you only need 520W’s, but it would have been nice for one more.

After the install I fired up my personal gaming PC; you can see its specs here (I have a few other things installed as well, like another HDD, USB hubs, and several USB powered devices). It stared up without problems. I wasn’t quite sure if the HCG-520M would have enough power to keep everything going but I had 0 hiccups. Alright, now that that’s done, how about if I overclock it a little bit. Again, not a problem. So I figured I’d put max my PC out with some benchmark tests, surely this would really draw some major watts. And yet again, not an issue, nothing. The PSU itself was cool to the touch. Not bad, not bad at all.

Antec’s HCG-520M really surprised me. I really didn’t think it would have enough juice it in to power everything under a long load. What sucks even more is that I spent around $140 on my Corsair CMPSU-750HX which I love but I could have went ahead and picked up the HCG-520M for about $50 cheaper as Energy sells it for $90.

Steve’s Final Thoughts: The Antec HCG-520M is a really nice PSU that’s made for the budget gaming PC. It’s affordable, and yet, has all the perks of the more expensive PSU: high continuous power (520W), a really nice cable management system, and the Antec name backing it. If you’re in the market for a budget PSU, you’ll be lucky to get such a great bang for your buck then what the HCG-520M is offering.

Here’s all of the official specs:

• 520 watts of Continuous Power
• 80 PLUS® Bronze certified — up to 87% efficient
• High Current Hybrid Cable Management — special 10-pin and 5-pin modular connectors for High Current rail
• Quiet 135 mm Double Ball Bearing cooling fan
• Stealth Wires: all wires darkened for minimal visibility in chassis
• All Japanese brand capacitors for reliability
• Thermal Manager: an advanced low voltage fan control for optimal heat & noise management
• Up to 90% power available on +12V rail
• ATX12V version 2.32 and EPS12V version 2.92 compliant
• Heavy-duty protection circuitry on all rails prevents damage from a variety of dangers:
• AQ5 — Antec Quality 5 year limited warranty on parts and labor
• MTBF: 100,000 hrs

Side Note: If you’re in the market for a CPU cooler, check out Antec’s KÜHLER H₂O 620. I bought that for my PC when I built to keep my Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core cool. Even with me overclocking my i5-2500k, it’s cooler then it running normal with the stock cooler. The other two great things about the KÜHLER H₂O 620 is its price because you can get it for only about $55, and the fact that it’s zero maintenance. You install it, it works, nothing else to do with its liquid cooling system. Ever.

Here are a bunch of pictures I took of Antec’s High Current Gamer M, 520W power supply. You can read all about the specs of it here. There will be a review out on Platform Nation later on today with my thoughts on it. I’ll even see if it can handle my beast of a PC! Hope you enjoy the pictures and very soon the review will be up.

Can I get that $25 back? Yes, I paid the $25 it costs to watch UFC 143 in 3D at my local theater, one of only 2 theaters showing the event in 3D in all of Washington state. I’m not going to give my thoughts on the event here, this is mostly to give you all the low down on UFC’s first event in 3D, even though it was a pretty awesome card.

The first thing I noticed about the event was how we got screwed over instantly. The UFC was showing a new intro, one that is set to replace its gladiator intro, well, we missed that. In fact, we missed everything for the first 7 minutes of the card. Not a good start at all. When the feed finally came back on, guess what, the audio sync was off. It wasn’t really noticeable until the Joe Rogan interviews because you really don’t see the people talking until the interviews but it was there and it was annoying.

The next thing that was probably my biggest problem with the card in 3D, we got hosed! We didn’t get Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg calling the action for us, we got Jon Anik and Kenny Florian. Don’t get me wrong, Anik and Florian don’t suck, but they are no Rogan and Goldberg. There was stuttering, dead air (when there wasn’t suppose to be, you could tell they were trying to gather their thoughts), and it just sounded awkward.

Crappy camera angles suck. I think I counted around 3 true 3D cameras there, because of that, the UFC decided to try to use those as much as possible for our feed. These angles were not the ideal angles or views for us, those were saved for the main feed so we were constantly getting non-optimal views. What was worse though was when they would switch to the single lens cameras and give us what seemed to be a post-process 3D image, it was just awful. Not to mention every time that they showed anything in the UFC video library where nothing was actually shot in 3D and they tried to make it seem 3D. It just looked like crap.

Can we not forget that 2 friends seeing this in the theater at $25 a ticket is the cost of the PPV in the comfort of your own home with your own food and drinks that’s so much cheaper than what you are going to pay at a theater? And so much better quality too.

Overall, when the 3D was actually done right, it was awesome, it really was. It really made me feel like I was there (I’ve been to several UFC events live so I know what it’s like), but so often, it wasn’t done the right way. Every time the UFC would switch to one of the single camera lenses or show an older video clip, it would just suck you out of the experience and it really left you wanting your money back. This was the first time the UFC has done 3D and this was my first and last time paying for it. Never again for me.

Midnight In Paris

First up we have “Midnight In Paris,” which is Woody Allen’s latest work to be nominated for an Academy Award, and his first to receive a nod for Best Film in quite some time. “Midnight In Paris” serves up a heaping serving of Woody Allen’s sardonic humor with his penchant for mixing the fantastical with quirky characters that could be found in your day-to-day life. What I found most striking about the film was just how jaw dropping the sights of Paris can be even when they serve as only a backdrop to the sarcastic dialogue from the main characters. The movie’s main focus is on a screenplay writer that is currently feeling a strain on his creativity by the success he’s had with the mainstream dribble he has been forced to write over the years. While in Paris, his artistic juices begin to flow and his dream of someday publishing a novel is nurtured by the allure Paris holds for all up and coming artists.

As with many of his movies; Woody Allen creates a very apt avatar for his sense of humor and sensibility, and this time it is perfectly played by Owen Wilson. Even the time travel element that eventually hits the story is treated with a shrugging of the shoulders and serves as yet another way to be pulled into into the rich tapestry that has been created by the artists that have inhabited Paris’ streets over the years. While I found “Midnight In Paris” to be an interesting and quirky stroll into the intoxicating nature of Paris’ world, I feel the movie just seemed to fall flat. Whatever themes it sets up regarding the hazards of losing yourself in the past are quickly lost in the mundane treatment the rest of the plot receives.

The Help

The next Academy nominated movie I watched this week was “The Help,” which is based on the best-selling book from Kathryn Stockett. Without a doubt, this was the more emotional and inspirational of the three movies that I watched during this first week. It focuses on a group of Jackson, Mississippi housemaids during the 1960′s, and their tribulations in upholding households for people that barely felt they were human; let alone equals. Their story culminates with the writing of a book recalling their plight that was penned by a young aspiring writer that saw the importance of getting their stories down on paper.

I was moved to tears quite a few times throughout my viewing of “The Help,” but none more than when I saw the strength that could be found when people came together to fight the adversity they were faced with. Part of me was bothered with how poorly this movie was advertised, as the ads seemed to make it out to be some comedy set during that time, and not a thoughtful civil rights piece with comedic undertones. This pre-determined view of the movie is what had me questioning why both Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were nominated for Lead Actress and Supporting Actress Academy Awards respectively. After my viewing I can admit Octavia did a fantastic job playing Minny Jackson in the movie, but the stand out star of the film is Viola Davis whose subtle performance shows the conflicting feelings pulling at her soul on a daily basis.

The Artist

Lastly, there is “The Artist” which was the most artistic and surprising movie I had seen from last year’s releases. “The Artist” works as a recalling of the time during the final breaths of the age of silent movies, and serves as an actual entry into the genre. The movie is black and white throughout and silent except for the few times sound is utilized to show the eventual move into the modern age of “talkies.” At first it was a bit of a shock to feel the heaviness that enveloped me while watching “The Artist” but the actors and the superb score worked together to create a cohesive blend that kept me gripped throughout the film.

First and foremost; I would like to put emphasis on how great Jean Dujardin’s performance was in “The Artist.” Without a single word uttered; he gives off all the swagger, charisma, and sex appeal of the leading male actors of the day, but also does a great job with the comedic and dramatic beats of the film. “The Artist” uses an old film making style to tell an old story in a way that works as a tribute and a culmination of the medium’s best traits. Where “Hugo” left me wanting to go back and experience some of the older films I had missed; “The Artist” made me feel like I was experiencing silent cinema at its finest.

The drastic differences of these three movies has already justified the semi-monumental task I have before me with watching the other 6 top film nominees. I heard the complaints raised by many critics when the 2012 Nominees were released and I’m glad that I’ve taken up the challenge to find the reasons behind the Academy’s choices. While not all for the same reasons, without a doubt I can see why these three films were chosen. “Midnight In Paris” for it’s inventive and well written story, “The Help” for its heartwarming portrayal of a small part of the Civil Rights movement, and “The Artist” for using an old film making style in a whole new way.

What is up Platform Nation? Today I bring you the first double digit episode of The Holoterminal, a video series focused on providing news and game tips for Bioware’s Star Wars The Old Republic. This week, me and my co-host, Brian, give you some tips and pointers for playing Warzones and PvP, along with some other news and general discussion about the game. The warzones and player versus player combat can be a lot of fun in SWTOR, and our tips are meant to help you and your team get that winning edge. Also, now that anti aliasing has been fully implemented into the game, we try to show you the difference it makes with a brief before and after comparison.

If you are first time viewer, or new to the game, and you like what you see in this episode, be sure to head over to the you tube channel, or scroll through the archives here on P*N, for some other great tips, guides and news. Thanks again for watching, see you next time!

The Holoterminal Ep. 10- Warzone Tips

Hosted By: Ryan Strain & Brian Webb

It’s not easy to be a video game company today. It seems like a studio is closing its doors every week; doesn’t matter if you’re big or small, no one is safe. With the budgets that are needed to create top-tier games growing every year, it becomes an even greater risk when these games don’t sell as well as hoped. Look no further than THQ, who is reeling from a lackluster holiday performance (personally, I loved Saints Row The Third, but I guess not enough people did). So if a game company is going to have to survive, they might have to make choices about what features they choose to support. Considering the development time and cost needed to create a unified single player and multiplayer experience, I would not be at all surprised to see games that traditionally featured robust options in both now start to favor one over the other. The question is:

If the developers of a game you were looking forward to buying had to cut features, would you rather have a more robust single player experience, or more multiplayer options?

(You may need to refresh the page to see the poll)

Keep in mind that I’m asking you what you prefer, not what is more likely to happen. My knee-jerk reaction to this would be to say multiplayer; I would like to think that I am always online playing with my friends in whatever game we all have. But in reality, I have been heavily reliant on quality single player games as of late.  The last real multiplayer game I’ve played was Black Ops (not counting Rock Band, which I do with co-workers monthly, and a dabbling of Assassin’s Creed Revelations, which none of my friends had anyway). So in considering what my playing habits actually are, I think I’d like to see more single-player variety if a company had to make a choice. Besides, with the way things are going with online codes being needed for multiplayer access, having a quality single-player experience ensures I’m getting my money’s worth no matter how I purchase my game.

What do you think? Vote above, and drop some comments below!

View previous ASQ: Difficulty Settings - View next ASQ: Sequel Before Prequel

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation.  Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

Gina Carano’s fighting experience, coupled with Soderbergh’s direction, creates a visceral string of fight scenes that would be right at home besides any Hong Kong Kung Fu flick or any of the Bourne movies. On  top of that, you’re also treated to a sound-scape that seems like it’s made up of actual fight sounds rather than the over produced folly work that you’ve heard in dozens of movies before this. Even the objects in the environment that are used as weapons don’t seem like props make to break on impact but are actual real world items that act the way they should. One of Haywire’s greatest achievements is creating a world that may play host to over the top action but is governed by a gritty realism seldom seen in other movies in the spy action genre.

Unfortunately, the high points of the action put the rest of the movie in stark contrast; as a predictable story and nonsensical plot points bog down what could be a fantastic spy Action Spy movie. Haywire has a talented cast of actors that includes; Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, and Antonio Banderas, yet poor editing and writing ruin whatever traction their performances may gain. As much as I love Gina Carano’s intensity as an action star, the movie relies on her acting ability to carry the movie but there is very little life to be found in her performance outside of the action.

Rich’s Recommended Viewing: Opening Weekend – At The Theater – Rent It – Watch It On Cable –Stay Away! – 3/5

While 3 out of 5 may seem like a harsh review score, I can confidently say Haywire’s action is worth catching while it’s still in the theaters. It is a big dumb action movie that’s anchored by the strength of Gina Carano’s chemistry as an action star and I’m sure with time her performances will get stronger with each new project the studios are smart enough to throw her way.

Store – Your first reaction to a Steam app was probably “Oh great, another way to spend all my money”. And that sounds about right. The Steam app gives you instant access to the full catalogue available on the Steam Store, and with a couple of clicks you can purchase any game for download on your main computer. This part of the app let’s you categorise the store by featured, new, and (the best one) Deals. At the moment there aren’t any great deals, but I can imagine next time Steam has a huge sale, if I can’t get to a PC then this app will be a great help in getting a great deal. The purchasing of games within the app is seamless, but is missing certain purchasing methods (PayPal) and only accepts credit card at the moment. Another  feature that revolves around the Store is the Wishlist which is also available to view, amend and add games to on the go. And of course a cart and a search section to find your way around the store.

Friends – The second most important thing about Steam is the social interaction with your friends and the Steam app facilitates that with a full social section allowing you to view what your friends have played, what your friends are playing at the moment, the recent achievements that your friends have unlocked and if they have bought or added a game to their Wishlist. There is also an excellent chat function included. The chat feature allows you to chat to your friends just like you do on the PC. Whether you are spamming a friend or having an in-depth conversation, you can do all this on the go. In addition to the friends list you can also see what groups you are in, and the members and updates within those groups too.

Other – If you like to check the news, then Steam News and Syndicated News sections are on the app giving you instant access to lots of gaming news. The option to view Screenshots and Videos within the app is definitely in BETA at the moment; it doesn’t really work or look too great.

If you use Steam, and own a mobile device, there is no question that you should download this app. Whether you are a huge PC gamer and buy multiple Steam games a day, or just like to jump online to see what your friends are up to, it’s worth a quick download. It’s available on Android and iOS in BETA at the moment, and you can download it here.

In the early days of graphical computer games, adventure games reigned supreme.  Led by companies like Sierra, gamers were allowed to explore worlds using their keyboard to type commands like Open Door, Push Rock, or Ifnkovhgroghprm.  These graphical adventure games eventually started utilizing a new device called a mouse (yes, there was a time when computers were mouseless), and doing away with the keyboard entirely.  Metal Dead picks up the genre at this time, and is a mouse-driven graphical adventure game that would be right at home in the mid to late 1980s.  Metal Dead is not afraid to pay homage to their predecessors either, and many of the best jokes in the game are derived from material from other games and movies.

There’s not much I can say about the story that won’t take away from why you’d buy the game, so I’ll keep it simple.  Zombies are attacking, and you need to find out why.  Most of the story takes place in a medical facility, and you and your heavy metal rock buddy tackle the mystery one floor at a time.  Literally; the progression is broken up by restricting access to the various floors until you’ve performed various tasks via the point and click interface.  Fortunately, the icon you move around highlights when hovering over an item that can be interacted with (though most are merely for substance, very few actually progress the story).  Descriptive and often witty feedback is given, depending on what you try to do to these various objects, and was one of the charming things about these types of games that I’m glad was captured in Metal Dead.

Your character can carry a bit of inventory (that is often used with objects in the environment to progress, and sometimes can be combined with other inventory items), but most of your interaction will be via the hand or mouth icon to do or speak to things respectively.  You’ll have access to an in-game hint system as well, which is very well done.  There is also the option to save and load your game, but if you’ve got 3 hours to kill, you won’t need it (I never died while playing, and only saved once when I had to leave the game).  Information is delivered solely through on-screen text, and there is a decent (but oft repeating) MIDI soundtrack that plays throughout.

One of the most charming aspects of graphical adventure games was the subtle ways that the developers injected humor into the game, and Metal Dead does a great job of leveraging that humor in often ridiculous ways. The humor stays pretty consistent (read: good) throughout the game (you’ll probably need a diverse gaming background to pick up all the references).  As I mentioned earlier, the hint system is well done, and is also rather witty.  The interface feels spot-on with the classics, and never gets in your way of enjoying the game.  The graphics, while simplistic, are effective in delivering the content in a particular style, and there are some advanced effects utilized occasionally.  The dialog is very well written for the most part (a little lengthy at times), and is very entertaining.

Of course, the limitations of these types of games are present as well.  For one, there is a fair amount of backtracking done in the game.  While the various floors of the building aren’t exactly robust (there’s usually 2-3 rooms per floor), it can be a mental chore when you realize that the item you just got needs to be used in a place near the beginning, and then brought back to where you currently are.  The dialog, while excellently written, is painfully delivered in an all-text format with a font that is just non-standard enough to frustrate the reader a bit (and some of the colors are difficult to read).  The game is very wordy with everything from minor interactions to major dialog, and the limitations of the visual text mean that you’ll be sitting through extensive text reading sessions (or clicking a ton to advance the story along).  Classic games of this genre got around this limitation by using text boxes that could display entire paragraphs at once; such a feature would have been useful in this game.  The game is pretty short if you’ve played these types of games before; I completed it in a little under 3 hours, but I did miss 4 achievements (there are 13 total) in my playthrough, so I clearly didn’t see everything there was in the game.  Finally, there wasn’t enough variety in what you did; there were very few actual puzzles in the game.  Most of the time is spent trying to figure out what item in your inventory is going to advance you to the next part of the game.  There are no consequences for dialog choices, and as a result you find yourself just floating along with the story, rather than being actively engaged with it.  Let me click into a horde of zombies and die.  Don’t worry, I’ll keep playing!

Tym’s take: Metal Dead does a lot of things right with delivering a classic graphical adventure game.  For those with an itch to relive the glory days of gaming (albeit on a smaller scale), you’d be wise to pick this up.  The funny, well written story is worth going through; I just wish the way it was presented was different. At $5, I have a hard time saying you won’t get a decent return on investment, as long as you understand the limitations that this type of game brings with it.  It’s missing just enough features to prevent me from recommending it to everyone, but seeing as this is the first of a series of these types of games from Walk Thru Walls, I think they’re on the right track.

+ Funny dialog and interactive elements that pay homage to the genre

+ Efficient interface

- Excessive dialog is difficult to follow due to the way it is presented

- Short game that is somewhat artificially extended with backtracking

- Lack of puzzle variety

Final Score: 5/10